Chinese lantern has originated from the Western Han Dynasty. Around the yearly Lantern Festival, people all hang red lanterns up, which are symbols of reunion, to create a festive atmosphere. Lanterns later become a joyous symbol for Chinese. Chinese lantern synthesizes techniques of painting art, paper cutting, paper bundling and prickseaming. Palace lantern and gauze lantern are the most famous among the lanterns made in ancient China.

Nowadays, lanterns still paly an important role in home decoration, but the material of some lanterns have changed from paper and bamboo to cloth, plastics and iron wire, and their shape and colour have been quite different from traditional ones.

中国的灯笼起源于西汉时期。在每年的元宵节前后，人们都会挂起象征团圆的红灯笼，来营造一种喜庆的气氛，后来，灯笼就成了中国人喜庆的象征。中国的灯笼综合了绘画艺术、剪纸、纸扎、刺缝等工艺。在中国古代制作的灯笼中，以宫灯和纱灯最为著名。

如今，灯笼在居家装饰上仍扮演者重要的角色，但是有些灯笼的材料由原来的纸、竹子变成了布、塑料、铁线，而且灯笼的形状和颜色与传统也大不相同。